by Ivan Kal
Techniques that required certain affinities would be lost to him. It was not like he wouldn’t be able to generate small amounts of elemental ki; every spirit artist could use any element, but there was a reason why they adopted affinities. Having a core filled with an elemental ki allowed them to use techniques that required a large amount of such ki. And as beast affinities were not elemental, but rather unique to each beast, he would need to develop techniques for it on his own. There would be no way to follow. That, however, on its own did not worry him overmuch. It was a challenge worthy of any true spirit artist. The problem came from the fact that absorbing the impure ki would most certainly mean that he would also absorb a fragment of the beast’s soul.
And that could be very bad. There was a reason why absorbing impure ki from the spirit cores was rarely done. The vast majority of those who had done so become overwhelmed by the fragment of the spirit beast’s soul and lost control of themselves, becoming nothing more than beasts in a man’s flesh. It was considered taboo. If Vin did this, he would need to conquer the beast inside—or risk becoming a beast himself.
Yet every time he went through the risks, he told himself that he would have no problems. He was one of the greatest spirit artists that had ever lived; his soul was in balance, and he had knowledge few ever had. These last days he had been debating with himself, trying to decide if it was his arrogance that made him think that he would be able to conquer the beast. On the Norvus, he had experienced a bout of rage and desire for vengeance, and that was what worried him. He had managed to regain his balance, to seek revenge—justice—but not be consumed by it. It should have no bearing on what he did now. Yet still, he tested himself silently, making sure that he was ready to do this.
With the decision made he placed the spirit core on the ground in front of him, removed his clothes and sat down again. Then he started to cycle, preparing his core and body for the next step. He had thought hard on what kind of a body he wanted to forge. It was one of the most important parts of being a spirit artist; the foundation he forged today would be the core of what he was to become. His previous body was the lightning body, forged for superior reflexes and short bursts of power. A body that gave him advantage when using Surging techniques. The way of forging such a body had been one of the most coveted secrets on Orb, but it would do him little good now that he had decided to take in the affinity of the spirit core. That body had relied heavily on lightning affinity and lightning-type techniques.
He needed something else. Something that would make him stronger, faster. He did not have the luxury of taking years to regain his strength to the levels he had possessed before the Arashan had invaded. And even if he did manage such a feat, it would still do him no good. After all, even with his blessed arms, he had been defeated. He needed to become stronger than what he had been, strong enough to defeat them this time.
He had thought on it for a long time, and had come to a decision that made the most sense for him. He was going to forge for himself a new body type. Every body type had been invented by someone long ago, and the techniques for doing so then passed down through the generations. The task of making a new one for someone who was hailed as the greatest spirit artist of all time should not be hard—or at least that was what he was telling himself to feel better about it. It was his only choice, he decided, as it was the only card he could play that had a chance of getting him ahead. And with him being in this world, where aura was abundant, it was the best place to attempt it.
He had decided to try and forge a body that could absorb far more of the aura around him than his own now could. He intended to bore new ki channels throughout his body, allowing him to wield far greater amount of ki than any spirit artist ever had. Ironically he had gotten the idea from watching mages, and the way that they used their inner powers. They used their untrained ki to command the aura around them. And he was going to try something similar. The base of the body he had designed for himself was the body of the Three-folded Sage, who was the first spirit artist to achieve the seventh step of the path. His body had been a sensory type, able to detect the most minuscule movement or change in ki and aura. It made him nearly impossible to defeat, as he could read the ki of his opponents so well that he could see their attacks far in advance.
Next he needed to expand his ability to absorb and convert aura from his surroundings, and to do that he would bore new pathways through his body to his core. With the aura of this world, he hoped to accelerate his climb up the steps. Hopefully, this would also allow him to project more ki from his body in a manner similar to the spirit beast he had fought, and would allow him to use and control more Shaping and Bending techniques outside of his body.
And finally, he was going to do something that he had only read about long ago. The third spirit artist to reach the seventh step, Jisai Alana, had done the same thing that he planned to do now—she had absorbed a spirit beast’s core with its affinity. She had entwined her muscles with new and unique ki pathways, ones that did nothing to facilitate techniques of three of four schools of mastery–Shaping, Bending, and Engraving—but had made the Surging mastery school something truly unique. That was, at least if stories written in the scrolls were to be trusted.
She had somehow been able to force her entire body in a massive Surging technique that had been described as turning her into a beast that was on fire with aura and ki. It had given her an amazing strength and speed. The problem was that the records of how exactly she had done that were left unfinished, and no one had ever managed to recreate such a body. The problem could’ve also been that the body would be completely useless until one reached at least the sixth step, where they would have the control and power to attempt the technique of Blazing Beast Star. Vin remembered the records of the failed attempts, and he was confident that he could manage it.
Finally, he finished his preparations. He grabbed the spirit core from the ground with both hands and put it against his chest. He settled his breathing into a regular cycle, and pulled.
The ki from the spirit beast’s core spilled into him, and its strangeness took him by surprise. The affinity felt like a storm of power…and something else, something ethereal. Something that called to everything primal in him. It surged through his body’s channels, spilling into his core, which soaked it all up. Any of his pure ki that it touched, it consumed, using it to feed itself as it transformed his core, forcing it to adopt its affinity. He tried to control the process, pulling the ki into his core as fast as possible and pushing it into a cycle once it was there.
He had lost sense of everything but the storm that raged in his core.
As his core fought against adopting the affinity, he pulled more ki from the spirit core and sent it through his channels, forcing them to change as well. He reinforced them with the new ki, and pushed at the channels’ ends, extending the channels through his body.
And then, after he had pushed them to their limits, he pushed even harder. He forced the ki against the walls of his channels, burrowing new pathways where they never had been before. He pushed and pushed until he reached the edges of his body, and he pushed more. Creating the endings against his skin, forcing the tips of his channels to form into needle-thin endings and punching through. Pain spread across his entire body, assaulting him as he made connection with the outside, and he felt the aura around him pool at the new channels’ tiny endings.
He pulled the aura in, creating a bore that went two ways, and then he took the ki in his channels and turned it on his core, burrowing new connections, creating new tunnels leading into it—first hundreds, then thousands. He then pushed even more channels through his body, independent ones, connected only to his core and his muscles, before fusing them so that they were one. As soon as he finished, he started feeding more of the ki from the spirit beast’s core directly into his own, the new entrances increasing the flow a thousand fold.
His core trembled at the onslaught of ki. There was more than it could hold, and all of it
burning with an affinity it did not have. It quivered as it started to change, to adopt enough of the affinity. The walls of his core changed from pure white, to black and blue—and as soon as he felt the change set in, he tightened down on his core, compressing it even as he fed it more and more ki. It fought him, and it hurt unlike anything he had ever felt. It seemed to him like time had ground to a halt and he was suspended in that one moment of pain.
And then it passed. The core snapped into place, and an empty basin appeared in his mind’s eye. The ki he had fed to his core now filled a vast sphere the size of fist. He pulled all the ki that was left in the beast’s core and added it to the core as he cycled the ki slowly. He willed it into a gentle roll, pushing ki through his body as it reforged itself and settled into place. The stream of ki filling his channels now looked like a labyrinth or a massive spider web that covered his entire body. As the ki passed through his channels, the pain abated, and his body settled into the new normal. He returned the ki back into his core and relaxed.
His breathing halted as he ended the cycling, and he opened his eyes. He looked down only to see himself covered in blood and waste. The bores through his skin had created streams of blood that had flown down his body—and every pore on his body had been open, removing all the waste and purifying his body. He knew that his face was likewise covered. He could feel the dried blood on it. The creation of new channels and access points had happened across his entire body. He shakily stood up, and noticed that the sun was almost setting. He had spent the entire day in his attempt to reach the next step.
He stretched his arms above his head and roared to the sky. He felt like a new person—this was what it was like to be a true spirit artist. He had forgotten the feeling, but now he knew it again. His core felt powerful. Strange and primal, perhaps, but unyielding. It was this feeling that he had missed so much, and he hadn’t even realized it. His imprisonment had robbed him of this, and for that alone the Arashan deserved all that was going to befall them.
He shook the last of his rigidity away, and made way to the small stream nearby to clean himself. He was a true spirit artist again—and the air had never tasted sweeter.
* * *
Vin walked through the city, only just now realizing how strange it truly was. What had before been just a cloud of aura surrounding him was now a much more nuanced painting. The sensory ability of his body allowed him to see just how much of the city had magic in it. The walls surroundings it, for one, were filled with hundreds of circles of aura arranged in huge, set patterns, and almost every building had at least several smaller such patterns. And the people, their inner ki—or rather energy, it was not fair calling it ki now that he could truly see—was nothing but a tiny spark of pure energy. He could see their cores, or what was left of them, at least. The walls of their cores were eroded, gone, the energy flowing freely and without guidance. Perhaps they could’ve repaired them, and forged their cores, but none of them even understood what it was that they possessed.
He walked around the city, soaking it all in, when his senses touched something and he froze. He pulled everything back to his body, curling it tightly inside and watched with his eyes alone. Through the throng of people, he could see her.
Impossible, he thought to himself. And then she turned around, her eyes searching her surroundings, clearly looking for that which had touched and disturbed her.
Xiang Hao Ming Li stood not a hundred paces away from him. Her eyes turned in his direction and he moved, entering through the closest doors to him and hiding inside. He closed the doors and crouched behind them, waiting, keeping his core as still as possible.
He waited for a time, until he was unsure how much had passed. He kept his breathing calm and his ki under control. Then, when he judged that enough time had passed, he slowly expanded his senses, searching carefully for any sign of Ming Li. Once he was satisfied that she was gone, he stood up, looking at the closed doors with his mind thinking furiously.
If Ming Li was here, that meant that there was a good chance that the Arashan were here as well, assuming that her trip to the breach had thrown her closer to them than him. A burning sensation deep in his heart reared its head, whispering of vengeance. He pushed it down immediately, allowing his calm and rational mind to analyze the situation. His only desire had been to find and stop the Arashan—but the touch of Ming Li had reminded him of the harsh reality he inhabited. She was beyond him. If his brief sense was correct, she was even more powerful than she had been before. She had climbed to the sixth step of the path.
She alone would be more than able to deal with Vin, and if she had Arashan help then he would have no hope. Even on his world, the Arashan had been strong. If he had to rank their average power, he would put them somewhere around the second step of the path—and that had been on his world. From everything he had seen on this world, they would be far stronger here.
And even among the Arashan there had been exceptional warriors and mages. They relied on their magic and their own versions of blessed arms, but many had rivaled spirit artists of the fourth or fifth step. They were rare, but they existed. Vin had no idea how powerful the Arashan that had crossed over to this world were, either.
In a crash of understanding, he realized just how unprepared he truly was. His third-step power was nothing, a false hope. He had been foolish thinking that he could stop them on his own. Foolish and arrogant to think that who he had been meant anything now. The strength he wielded meant everything, and he did not wield nearly enough.
“May I help you?” a voice said, making Vin turn in surprise. He had been so focused on making sure that Ming Li was gone that he had missed voice’s approach.
Vin tensed, but relaxed once he saw a short and old bald man dressed in a green robe looking at him. There wasn’t any hostility in the man’s eyes, only interest. “Apologies, honored elder,” Vin said as he bowed over his fists. “I did not mean to intrude.”
The man raised an eyebrow at Vin’s words and Vin winced inwardly. He had forgotten that his manner of speaking was not common in these lands. He bowed again as he opened the door and left. Once back on the street, he quickly made his way back home. He needed to speak with Ashara as soon as possible. If the Arashan were in the city, then everyone was in danger—and if Ashara was right about how powerful this Eternal Soul was, then perhaps she could help.
He rushed to their room, only to find it empty. He remembered belatedly that Ashara had probably already left for the King’s feast. He grimaced, trying to decide what to do. Eventually, he decided to wait. Once Ashara returned, he could talk to her and see about meeting this Eternal Soul.
CHAPTER NINTEEN
KYARRA
It burns, it crumbles, the nexus of all. Oh, how wrong we have all been. How deceived. The last fragment of life is his. It has always been his.
–Excerpt from the Journal of Vardun Con Aroch
Kyarra was enjoying her time at the feast. She was holding hands with Ashara as the two of them walked around the mingling area of the large hall. The tables were on the other side of the room, with only a few people actually sitting there, as it was not yet time for the main course. As they mingled with the elite of the elite of Tourran, Kyarra was amazed at just how much at ease Ashara was in such a setting. Kyarra had always felt uncomfortable among the elite—and this room was filled with them.
Aside from the King and the princess, several of the more important nobles were represented along with the wealthiest merchants of Tourran, be they noble or not. Ovar was there as well. While he was technically in service to Kyarra, his status in the Kingdom was substantial in itself. The Representative of the Mages Guild was here, of course, as was the royal mage, and as was the ambassador of the Lashian Empire alongside Grand Marshal Darvo Tou Benerof—whose patience was being visibly tested. That Kyarra could understand, as the King had kept her informed about their discussions.
The Empire was adamant about taking Tourran. They were, of course, masking it as
an offer, one of Tourran joining the Empire as an semi-independent region with many benefits to the nobility and to the King himself. Kyarra could see the attitude of many of the nobles as they spoke with the Grand Marshal, many being very appreciative. The King suspected that they were already in league with the Lashians.
“Hey, where did you go to?” Ashara pulled on Kyarra’s elbow gently.
“Sorry. I was thinking,” Kyarra told her.
“Tonight is about enjoying yourself,” Ashara reminded her, and led her among the crowd.
They made small talk with the people around the room, and while it was nice finally being able to be a part of a conversation and not just a center of it, it quickly became tiresome—so, after a brief word, she and Ashara made their way to the garden.
“I love these gardens,” Ashara said, and Kyarra had to agree. The royal gardens were truly beautiful.
They walked the mage-light lit path until they found a small bench in a private corner. They sat in silence for a while, Kyarra appreciating the small respite from the crowd inside.
“Huh, this feels familiar,” Ashara commented after a while.
Kyarra turned to look at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Ashara waved around them. “This, sitting in quiet. You remind me of Vin like that. He is content to sit in an endless silence, too.”
“Vin?” Kyarra asked, making sure to keep her face straight although her breath caught in her chest.